The proposed Cadiz water project would move water from the Fenner Valley in eastern San Bernardino County to Orange County and other coastal areas, and has been opposed by local environmentalists. In June 2013, Representative Paul Cook asked the Department of the Interior to review the environmental impacts of the proposed Cadiz water extraction and pipeline project, and seemed to side with opponents’ objections to the project. Reporter Dan Stork reports that Cook has apparently changed his mind…
In a September letter to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Representative Paul Cook wrote that “developments have changed the dynamics surrounding the [Cadiz water] Project, calling into question the need for federal environmental review and signaling a need to allow the Project to move forward.” Cook went on to cite court denials of six petitions against the project. (Those denials are under appeal.) Cook also listed projected benefits that have been claimed by the Project’s developers—1,500 jobs for five years, with guarantees for local and military veteran employment, retention of 20 percent of extracted water for local use, greater property tax revenues and school district support, and generation of $1 billion in local economic activity. Cook also expressed his faith in the claims for environmental sustainability of the Project. Cook concluded his letter: “With the court approvals in mind and with so many jobs at stake, I believe further investigation into environmental impacts to be unnecessary. However, as the project moves forward, I will continue to monitor it to ensure that no harm is done to the local environment or water supplies.”
CONGRESSMAN COOK REVERSES HIS STAND ON CADIZ WATER PROJECT
